The self proclaimed Hip Hop God, Kanye West, has always been an amazing talent. Before he catapulted to superstardom as a music artist, he was just a producer on the powerhouse label, Roc-A-Fella Records, and even then, it was no secret that Kanye Tidda was on the brink of greatness.

Mr. West released his first solo album as a rapper,The College Dropout, in 2004, gaining him 10 grammy nominations, including wins for Best Rap Album, and Best Rap Song, for “Jesus Walks.” And from then on he’s only gotten better. Fast forward 6 years later, the Louis Vuitton Don was at the height of his career, having released 4 studio albums and hard at work on his fifth. In November of that year, Kanye West dropped arguably his best album to date, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.He showed off his creative excellence incorporating soul, baroque, electro and symphonic sounds, with production from Hip Hop heavyweights RZA, NoI.D. and Mike Dean. To add to the musical creativity of the album, Ye also flexed his directorial skills and created a 35-minute film for the single, “Runaway (below).”

I remember when this album first dropped; I was a senior in college and at first listen I wasn’t sure what to think. It was so different from what I thought I liked and what I was used to hearing from Kanye West, that I wasn’t completely sold on it in the beginning. It only took me about 3 more listens to become acquainted with the undeniable classic that is MBDTF. Even listening to it today, 5 years later, I’m still amazed at the craftsmanship he displayed. Not many albums can be played without a single song skip, but this is definitely one. Complex Mag agrees that it’s the best album Ye ever constructed, and Rolling Stone takes it a step further, naming it as one the best albums of all time. What do you think?